After winning Monday’s game at home and taking a commanding 3-1 lead, the Warriors had a chance to close out the series tonight in Houston. But Steve Kerr knew beforehand that it would be a massive challenge, “We know Game 5 will be the toughest one yet.” Rockets, being the second seed in the West and one of the top teams all year, would not go down without a fight. And that’s exactly what happened, as the Houston team’s physical defense led to some weird occurrences for the Warriors.

As soon as Game 5 began, it was clear that something was not clicking for Kerr’s squad. Especially for Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler. It took the Baby-Faced Assassin a quarter and a half to get his first bucket, a three-pointer from top of the key. He also missed a free throw, which is strange because Steph led the league in free throw efficiency this season at 93.3%. Sure enough, Steph’s slow start led to massive concern about his health, particularly his lingering thumb injury.

In an image that has now gone viral, Steph’s thumb can be seen badly bruised, with a golf ball size bulge on his knuckle. Sure, he has somehow played through the injury so far. But the pain has seemingly started affecting his performance. Fortunately, Curry was able to pick up pace late in the second quarter. He finished the half with 11 points. Amid his ongoing struggles, Jimmy was also having a hard time in Houston.

The forward started the game missing his first six shots, and finished the opening half with just six points. Of course, all but two of his points came from the charity stripes. And even Jimmy missed a free throw, contrary to his 100% efficiency in the last game.

Meanwhile, Draymond Green spent majority of the second quarter on the bench. For the twelve minutes he was on the court, he had a plus-minus of -27. Surprisingly, Gui Santos was the only Warriors player with a positive plus-minus in the first half, at +2 in ten minutes. Due to these unusual struggles, the Warriors found themselves in a massive hole. They finished the half trailing by 27 points, which led to Kerr taking a drastic step in the second half.

Steve Kerr throws in the towel early as announcers call out Rockets’ controversial tactics on Stephen Curry

As Steph tried his best to regain his groove, he was constantly faced by another problem. Rockets’ physical defense. Every time he got the ball hoping to attempt a shot, he was getting battered and bruised. On-air announcers even highlighted Ime Udoka’s controversial strategy on Live TV, “You can look at the last two games, every time Steph launches a 3 and Dillon Brooks is there, he’s whacking his right hand.”

Yes, Brooks and other Rockets defenders were seemingly targeting Curry’s injured thumb whenever they got the chance. During one of the plays, Steph could be seen grimacing in pain, looking for a foul call after Brooks hit his hand while contesting his shot.

With the risk of worsening his injury and no chance of making a comeback, Kerr decided to take matters into his own hands. He threw in the towel with over a quarter left in the game by pulling out the starters.

The Warriors were down 29 points and the way they had played so far, there was no shot at a comeback. So, Kerr probably decided it was best to let this one go and focus on the next game, which will be in the Warriors’ arena. Do you think Stephen Curry and Co. can get over tonight’s abysmal outing and finish the job in Game 6?